How start-ups scale in India: Food aggregation and ordering industry

Abstract

Food aggregators and ordering businesses have grown exponentially in India in both numbers as well as size in recent years. The industry although at a nascent stage has received considerable traction from VCs and investors. The organized food market in India is worth INR 3 lakh crore. Food delivery business is about INR 95k crore. [1] The size is remarkable for an industry which started 8 years ago with inception of companies like FoodieBay (erstwhile Zomato) and Tastykhana. [2] The industry saw few entrants initially but has seen rapid mushrooming of new start-ups in recent year. Along with rise of new ventures, the industry has also seen consolidation with multiple acquisitions from companies like Zomato and Foodpanda. Foodpanda has recently acquired business like Justeat and Tastykhana among several in order to increase its geographic reach as well as restaurant coverage.